Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

DamnYankees:Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Lionel Mandrake:DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

Darth_Lukecash: But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

So, all those people in the government who supported the policy that led to the government spying on all of us are labeling him a "traitor" for telling all of us that the government has been spying on us, and you agree that he is a traitor for telling citizens what the government has been doing to us behind our backs? How do those boots taste?

Darth_Lukecash:Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

Is he a criminal? Most certainly, just based on the letter of the laws that he violated.

Would bringing him to stand trial be justice? I'm more iffy on that. I have a hard time believing that Americans are worse off because they're now aware that the government is spying on literally everything they put online or on their phones.

Honestly, I don't really see a reason to spend resources trying to get him, beyond the usual American government posturing and fist-shaking.

He's not a hero, but he's also not farking Bin Laden, either. No one was made less safe by his admissions (unless you somehow believe terrorists weren't already concerned about electronic surveillance.) He can only be a traitor if the enemy that received comfort is the American people.

Darth_Lukecash:Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

No, he's not. He broke the law of disclosing classified information. That's an entirely separate law from treason. The whole point is that we need to stop militarizing everything as a "crime against the people!" and calm the fark down.

Lionel Mandrake:Borowitz...this is attempted satire or humor or something, right?

NSA and Jew: If you ever needed a sign that Jews feel fully integrated and accepted by society, consider this: Not one major Jewish group made a peep over the revelations of National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance.We, who throughout the modern era have been followed, spied on, singled out, labeled, rounded up, tortured and killed at the hands of the state, are officially just fine with our government tracking our every word.

A bit of hyperbole there to be sure but is shows that Jews feel government spying on individuals serves their interests now. Dominant in every field (ivy league academia, media, finance, government, etc.), do Jews feel secure that the government is there to protect them from the rest of the public?

Darth_Lukecash:Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

If the government does it, it's legal? What about the Japanese internment during WW2? Didn't the Army intentionally infect some people with viruses?

Biological Ali:Satanic_Hamster: Darth_Lukecash: Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

No, he's not. He's a *criminal* by revealing this information. Blames of traitor/treason are a bit over done.

Pretty much. He's just a common criminal and should be dealt with as such.

"Common criminals" generally commit crimes of opportunity for their own benefit, usually monetary. What did Snowden possibly have to gain for himself knowing full well that his actions would result I either lengthy incarceration or fleeing for his home county leaving behind his friends and family perhaps forever? Yes, I get that you think the rest of us have no right to know what our government is doing to us because our government is infallible, and knows what is best for us and we have no right to criticize, for we are it humbleservants of the almighty state, but what did behave to gain by this?

AeAe:Darth_Lukecash: Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

If the government does it, it's legal? What about the Japanese internment during WW2? Didn't the Army intentionally infect some people with viruses?

Government spying on its citizens is wrong.

Yes. All that was legal. Perfectly on the up and up. And if anyone involved had revealed classified information in an effort to derail those programs they would have been breaking the law, breaking their pledges to keep the information secret. They would have been traitors according to most people around here.

A lot of f*cking FARKers would call them bad guys.

What a sad, sad state of affairs.

One of the things I love(d) about FARK was that a lot of folks saw the difference between "legal" and "ethical." I thought.

Nabb1:"Common criminals" generally commit crimes of opportunity for their own benefit, usually monetary. What did Snowden possibly have to gain for himself knowing full well that his actions would result I either lengthy incarceration or fleeing for his home county leaving behind his friends and family perhaps forever? Yes, I get that you think the rest of us have no right to know what our government is doing to us because our government is infallible, and knows what is best for us and we have no right to criticize, for we are it humbleservants of the almighty state, but what did behave to gain by this?

So if you commit a crime that's not to your benefit, it's not a crime?

Satanic_Hamster:Nabb1: "Common criminals" generally commit crimes of opportunity for their own benefit, usually monetary. What did Snowden possibly have to gain for himself knowing full well that his actions would result I either lengthy incarceration or fleeing for his home county leaving behind his friends and family perhaps forever? Yes, I get that you think the rest of us have no right to know what our government is doing to us because our government is infallible, and knows what is best for us and we have no right to criticize, for we are it humbleservants of the almighty state, but what did behave to gain by this?

So if you commit a crime that's not to your benefit, it's not a crime?

No, he said Snowden was a "common criminal." He may very well be a criminal.

Darth_Lukecash:Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

This may shock you, but Congress, an institution with single-digit approval ratings, can sometimes be wrong. Courts can't effectively check the constitutionality of secret acts if they give undue deference to the state secrets privilege or the Catch-22 that secrecy obscures who may have standing to sue, because one or both of those show stoppers prevent lawsuits from being decided on the merits.

Lionel Mandrake:AeAe: Darth_Lukecash: Lionel Mandrake: DamnYankees: Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

Mr. A: "I think the government is violating the Constitution with increasing regularity and to a frightening extent"

Mr B: "Well...that pisses me off...fk the government"

Mr. A: "Hey, look, this guy released information proving my claim!"

Mr. B: "F*CK THAT GUY! HANG HIM!! F*CKING TRAITOR!!1!"

But here's the real issue: what the NSA did was legal and approved by the congress.

Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

Note:no one in congress is surprised by the NSA actions or calling this a scandal. Everyone is saying Snowden being a traitor.

If the government does it, it's legal? What about the Japanese internment during WW2? Didn't the Army intentionally infect some people with viruses?

Government spying on its citizens is wrong.

Yes. All that was legal. Perfectly on the up and up. And if anyone involved had revealed classified information in an effort to derail those programs they would have been breaking the law, breaking their pledges to keep the information secret. They would have been traitors according to most people around here.

A lot of f*cking FARKers would call them bad guys.

What a sad, sad state of affairs.

One of the things I love(d) about FARK was that a lot of folks saw the difference between "legal" and "ethical." I thought.

Sometimes I am shocked at the people here who are such willing subjects of the state. I suppose one can rationalize it as serving a greater good. i.e. the state takes care of "the poor" (whoever the fock they are). I can't do that. And don't start on the transgressions of the sainted Mr. Lincoln. Too late people realize once you piss away your rights too serve a great good......

Satanic_Hamster:Nabb1: "Common criminals" generally commit crimes of opportunity for their own benefit, usually monetary. What did Snowden possibly have to gain for himself knowing full well that his actions would result I either lengthy incarceration or fleeing for his home county leaving behind his friends and family perhaps forever? Yes, I get that you think the rest of us have no right to know what our government is doing to us because our government is infallible, and knows what is best for us and we have no right to criticize, for we are it humbleservants of the almighty state, but what did behave to gain by this?

So if you commit a crime that's not to your benefit, it's not a crime?

DamnYankees:Aside from the horrible satire here, the charges are farking comical. It's only a hop skip and jump from totalitarian 'law' where the very idea of doing something illegal (i.e. against the government) is treason.

DamnYankees:Darth_Lukecash: Snowden is a traitor by revealing this information

No, he's not. He broke the law of disclosing classified information. That's an entirely separate law from treason. The whole point is that we need to stop militarizing everything as a "crime against the people!" and calm the fark down.

Crimes against the state are crimes against the people. Said every statist ever.